Ad of the Day: McDonald’s

DDB and digital sibling Tribal DDB take it upon themselves to vindicate the lemon in a new campaign for McDonald's McCafé Strawberry Lemonade slushie. To that end, the agencies enlisted Steve Schirripa, better known as Bobby Baccalieri of The Sopranos (who is spherical himself, not unlike a giant citrus, but a bit sweeter, as sociopathic mobster types go). While we're not immune to the charms of lemons, the lady in the commercial seems perhaps too at ease with the fact that a piece of yellow fruit is rolling around and barking at her about how delicious he tastes when pureed, frozen, and sucked out of a straw. Yes, it's cute, and makes me pause to reconsider the Wendy's Frosty I just guzzled. But it's also cutesy, and a self-congratulatory homage to DDB's famous "Lemon" ad for Volkswagen—which itself wasn't too complimentary toward lemons. Maybe a more generous reading is that the allusion is self-deprecating. Either way, the spot ends up stating the obvious: Lemons, as the idiom suggests, are better made into lemonade.

CREDITS

Client: McDonald's

Agency: DDB, Chicago (TV and radio)

Chief Creative Officer: Ewan Paterson

Group Creative Director: Bill Cimino

Creative Director: Nancy Jordan

Executive Director of Integrated Production: Diane Jackson

Associate Creative Director/Copywriter: Tim Nichols

Associate Creative Director/Art Director: Carol Hillinger

Production Manager: Joann Baker

Agency: Tribal DDB, Chicago (online)

Group Creative Director: Jim Marcus

Associate Creative Director: Brian Trecka

Sr. Copywriter: Deb Pahl

Sr. Art Director: Josh McGuire

Sr. Interactive Producer: Stephanie Skinner

Project Manager: Laura Knudson

Tech Lead: Justin Hood

Account Supervisor: Julie Griffin

Social Media Strategist: Tony Wood

Business Director: Jaime Guerrero

Production Company: Trip Media

Executive Producer/Partner: Sal Del Giudice

Production Manager Sydney Fisher

Edit: Cut & Run

Producer Angie Aguilera

Editor Jon Grover

Post-Production: Framestore

Executive Producer James Razzall

Producer Mary Nockles

Co-Director Murray Butler

Co-Director David Mellor

Food Edit/Finish: Optimus

Editor Kate Wrobel

Colorist Craig Leffel

Executive Producer Gretchen Praeger